Two memorable years

So the advertisement for VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) read and so, indeed, we have spent two very memorable years in Malawi. From a family practice in Kimberley, British Columbia, my husband, our two children and I moved to a small town in "The Warm Heart of Africa." One of the most substantial changes was the development of a cervix cancer screening clinic in Malawi. Cervix cancer is the leading cancer killer of women and sadly, no screening was previously available in the district. I routinely saw women with late stage cancers and had nothing to offer but palliation. Pap smears are not feasible because of the lack of infrastructure but a system called "VIA" (visual inspection with acetic acid) is recommended as it has similar sensitivities, and lesions can be treated with cryotherapy in the same visit by nurses or clinical officers with relatively little training. CMAJ invites contributions to "Dispatch from the medical front," in which physicians and other health care providers offer eyewitness glimpses of medical frontiers, whether defined by location or intervention. Submissions, which must run a maximum 700 words, should be forwarded to: wayne .kondro @cmaj.ca